82 c10 Fuel gauge pegged past full and keeps popping fuse.

[usmc82c10]

So here is my delima, I have a dual tank setup in my truck and I had been messing with it for quite some time switching out the selctor vavle and switches and tracing wires and finally foud that I had to start the truck and build pressure in order for the selector vavle to start working properly and it did. Then I moved on to my fuel gauge issue being that it was stuck at half tank. So i checked all the fuses in the panel just to be safe and came to the conclution that there must be a problem with the sending units. I dropped the driver side tank and ran a jumper wires to the power and ground and the fuel gauge would peg out past full without the ground and then drop back to half tank when the ground was reattached so that ruled out the gauge being bad. I pulled the sending unit from the tank only to discover that that tank was completly rusted and the float was rusted off the unit and floating in the tank no problem I was tired of messing with dual tanks any ways. So i dropped the other tank just to be sure it was clean and it was like new on the inside so I ommited the selector valve and spliced into the hot for the fuel gauge and ran it to the other tank but when I hooked up the other sending unit it popped the gauge fuse and nothing happens when i mess with the sending unit. So I replaced the fuse and checked to ensure there were no bare wires anywhere and nothing is wrong on this end but it keeps popping the fuse and I am at a stand still.

 

[Boone83K10]

why are you trying to do it this way. Just leave the selector valve on, leave the bad tank on, leave the ground wire on the bad tank, leave the sending wire hooked up from top of bad tank to selector valve, then switch the selector valve to the good tank and leave it. the selector valve is mechanical (fuel supply) and electrical (fuel gauge) so it will read the tank you want.

you are making it more complicated than it has to be. this way you can just get a new tank and sending unit when you get the dough and then you will have a working dual tank setup.

here is the wiring diagram if you really want to tap into it.

 

[usmc82c10]

I was planning on going with a fuel cell in the back later down the road any ways and all I need is for the selector valve to malfunction and start pulling from a different tank and I am stranded. I have studied the diagram and am very familiar with it but never plan to utilize a dual tank setup again they are to much of a hassle. So for now I plan to work with the good tank but I keep popping the gauge fuse every time I turn on the key even without anything hooked up.

 

[Boone83K10]

a blown fuse indicates too much current. it is coming from your splice into the hot wire since you didn't say it was happening before you did that

looking at the dual tank diagram, you see that the selector valve switches between tanks mechanically and electrically. when it is selected to the tank, it completes the circuit through the ground on the top of the tank that runs to the frame.

if you really want to eliminate the dual setup, you need to find the pink wire running to the selector valve and solder it to the pink w/black wire(passenger tank). this would essentially be just like a one tank truck wiring setup.

where did you splice in anyway?